Electromagnetic wave transmitter, receiver and transceiver systems, methods and articles of manufacture

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a system for electromagnetic processing of an input wave involving receiving a modified signal derived from two or more signals that represent the input wave when combined; and alternately regulating the modified signal using a digital signal containing at least one characteristic of said two or more signals. The invention may utilize in-phase and quadrature phase signals, where the magnitude portion of the signals may be used for regulating the modified signal. The modified signal may be created by modulating a characteristic of the I, Q signals, such as their sign, with an RF or other frequency carrier wave.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the transfer of electromagnetic waves.More particularly, the present invention relates to a system forprocessing electromagnetic signals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electromagnetic waves may be transferred from place to place through aconductor. In wired transmission, the conductor is usually a wire orother solid substance. In wireless transmission, the conductor isusually an ambient substance, such as air, water, etc. In wirelessconnections a transmitter is usually used to transfer a wave and areceiver to receive a wave. A transceiver combines the functions of bothtransmitter and receiver in one system. A transmitter typically convertselectrical energy into a signal, which is then broadcast via an antennato a receiver's antenna. Repeaters, middle stations, etc. may be used asintermediates in the transmission to sustain the integrity of thetransmitted wave.

The electrical energy input into a transmitter usually is modulated intoa basic transmission or carrier signal by overlaying some intelligenceupon the energy—speech, data, etc.—in the form of an information signal,and the receiver typically demodulates the modulated carrier signal,once received, into a copy of the initial intelligence sent by thetransmitter.

In order to accomplish their function, transmitters and receivers arecomprised of various building block components. The information signal,for example, may be generated or modulated by one or more transducers,such as a microphone. It may also be generated by a modulator, such asan analog modem. The modulation of the information signal onto thecarrier signal may be done by a mixer and the energy or carrier waveitself is usually generated by an oscillator. An amplifier is usuallyused at one or more places in the transmitter circuitry to boost thesignal strength, to provide power to active components, etc. Similarly,one or more filters are usually used as well, to clean up the inputsignal, the outputted signal, etc. An antenna is used to broadcast thesignal, and a power supply will supply power as needed.

The components of a receiver are similar, and indeed, as noted above,transceivers combine both transmitters and receivers. In a transceiver,separate components may be used for the transmitter and receiver, or,one or more devices providing for switching are used to turn onrespective transmitter and receiver components as needed.

Various techniques may be used to actually transfer the intelligence.For example, electromagnetic waves representing the information signalin wireless transmission may be modulated into carrier signals byvarying wave characteristics such as amplitude, frequency and phase, inan analog manner.

Transmitters, receivers, and transceiver for modulating waves have beenimplemented in a number of ways. For example, analog and digital basedsystems have been used to processed, or modulate, some aspect of theelectromagnetic wave, such amplitude, frequency, and/or phase with acarrier wave. Some of these modulation schemes include, for example,GMSK used in GSM, GFSK used in DECT and Bluetooth, 8-PSK used in EDGE,OQPSK and HPSK used in IS-2000, π/4 DQPSK used in TDMA and OFDM used in802.11.

In many of these modulations schemes, the intelligence, or basebandsignal, is processed into a plurality of signal in quadrature with eachother. The in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) signals combinedrepresent the original baseband signal. Modulating these basebandcomponents signals provides benefits over other modulation systems interms of the amount of energy required to transmit a given amount ofinformation (e.g, bits), bandwidth requirements, and a reducedprobability of error in the received signal.

Because of drawbacks in conventional systems, however, it would bedesirable to provide more efficient and precise transmitter, receiverand transceiver systems, methods and articles of manufacture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention comprises systems, methods and articles of manufacture fortransmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves and signals.Embodiments of the invention may include a method for electromagneticprocessing of an input wave involving receiving a modified signalderived from two or more signals that represent the input wave whencombined; and alternately regulating the modified signal using a digitalsignal containing at least one characteristic of said two or moresignals. The invention may also include an apparatus for electromagneticprocessing of an input wave having an amplifier with at least oneamplifying segment for receiving a modified signal derived from two ormore signals that represent the input wave when combined; and a controlcircuit for alternately regulating the modified signal across the atleast one amplifying segment using a digital signal containing acharacteristic of one of the two or more signals.

Embodiments of the invention may utilize in-phase and quadrature phasesignals, where the magnitude portion of the signals may be used forregulating the modified signal. The modified signal may be created bymodulating a characteristic of the I, Q signals, such as their sign,with an RF or other frequency carrier wave.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in thedrawings at least one embodiment, which is presently preferred; it beingunderstood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precisearrangements, methods and instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1(a) shows a general block diagram of a transmitter incorporatingI, Q based modulation.

FIG. 1(b) shows a general block diagram of a transmitter incorporatingpolar based modulation.

FIG. 1(c) shows a general block diagram of a transmitter incorporatingaspects of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a transmitter embodiment.

FIG. 3(a) shows an amplifier embodiment.

FIG. 3(b) shows another amplifier embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention include apparatus, methods andarticles of manufacture for transmitting and receiving electromagneticwaves and signals. Embodiments of the invention may be entirelycomprised of hardware, software and/or may be a combination of softwareand hardware. Accordingly, individual blocks and combinations of blocksin the drawings support combinations of means for performing thespecified functions and/or combinations of steps for performing thespecified functions. Each of the blocks of the drawings, andcombinations of blocks of the drawings, may be embodied in manydifferent ways, as is well known to those of skill in the art.

This may be accomplished, in one embodiment, by utilizing quadrature, orCartesian, based modulation of a segmented amplifier (SA), in whichbaseband I and Q data signals may be applied directly to the SA. Similarto other types of modulation, like polar-based modulation, embodimentsof the invention may also utilize a constant envelope RF signal in poweramplification by applying digital I and Q signals directly to thesegments of the SA.

FIG. 1(a) shows one embodiment of a general transmitter 100 forreceiving an input wave 101 and transmitting an output signal 102 usinga quadrature based modulation scheme. While described herein in terms ofa transmitter, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatthe invention may also be used for receivers, transceivers, and otherwave processing systems as well. The input wave 101 may consist ofvarying types of intelligence, e.g., voice, data, etc., as is furtherdescribed below.

Turning to FIG. 1(a), an input wave 101 may consist of varying types ofintelligence, e.g., voice, data, etc. The input wave 101 may be analogor digital, and is not limited. Similarly the transmitted output signal102 may consist of various types of intelligence modulated onto acarrier wave, e.g. voice, data, etc. While the output signal may beanalog, a digital output signal may be constructed as well and theinvention is not limited.

It should be noted that the word “signal” is used herein to describe anelectromagnetic wave that has been modulated in some fashion, usually bythe impression of intelligence upon the wave, for example imposing dataupon a carrier wave. It should also be noted that the use of “signal”and “wave” in the singular includes the plural (or multiple signals andwaves respectively) as often transmitters, receivers and transceiversgenerate more than one signal and/or wave in the normal course of theiroperation. For example, multiple harmonics of the baseband might bedesirably generated as in amplitude modulation; multiple frequenciesmight be generated, etc. It should also be noted that embodiments of theinvention might be used as well to input and/or output waves, as well assignals, as is further described below.

Transmitter 100 may comprise a baseband processor 115, signal processor118, mixers 105 and 106, carrier wave source 110, a combiner 119, anamplifier system 120, load line 121, and an antenna 125. A basebandinput wave 101 may be inputted into baseband processor 115, which maygenerate I and Q data signals (analog or digital) representative ofinput wave 101. A signal processor 118 may be used to further processthe I and Q signals, such as correcting the signals for non-linearitiesproduced in power amplifier 120 or to filter unwanted frequencycomponents from the signal. The I and Q signals may then pass to mixer105 and 106 along separate channels I and Q respectively. Each of the Iand Q data signals may then be mixed with a carrier wave generated bycarrier wave source 110. The signal may then be recombined at combiner119 and fed into amplifier 120. Amplifier system 120 may be used todrive antenna 125 through load line 121 using the recombined modulatedcarrier signal, from which the output signal 102 may be transmitted.Output signal 102 may represent an amplified version of input wave 101,modulated onto the carrier wave provided by carrier wave source 110.

FIG. 1(b) illustrates one embodiment of a general transmitter used toreceive an input wave 101 and generate an output signal using a polarbased modulation scheme. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1(b), inputwave 101 may be received by baseband processor 115, which generatesignals representing the amplitude (R) and phase (φ) of input wave 101,which may be analog or digital signals. The phase portion of the signal,φ, may then be passed to a modulator 112, where it is used to modulate acarrier wave from carrier wave source 110.

This modulated carrier signal, which typically has a substantiallyconstant envelope, may then be inputted to amplifier system 120. Thegain or level of amplification of the modulated carrier wave signal byamplifier system 120 may be controlled by the amplitude signal (R) inorder to use amplifier system 120 to drive antenna 125 through load line121 with an output signal 102, which is an amplified version of inputwave 101 modulated onto the carrier wave. This may be accomplished, forexample, by using individual bits of a digital word representing theamplitude portion of input wave 101 to control individual poweramplifiers or segments within amplifier system 120, each of whichreceives the modulated carrier wave signal.

FIG. 1(c) illustrates one embodiment of a general transmitter that maybe used to generate an output signal using the system of the invention.In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1(c), an input wave 101 may be receivedby baseband processor 115, where it may be converted into two or moresignals, which, when combined, represent input wave 101. In thisexample, I and Q data signals will be used. Those of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate, however, that the invention is not limitedthereto.

As with the previously described embodiments, additional signalprocessing may or may not be performed by signal processor 118.Thereafter, a signal containing a characteristic of the signalsrepresenting input wave 101, such as the sign of an I signal and a Qsignal, may be passed to a modulator 114, where this aspect of thesignals representing input wave 101 may be used to modulate a carrierwave from a carrier wave source 110 to produce one or more modulatedcarrier wave signals.

The modulated carrier wave signal(s) may then be passed to amplifiersystem 120. It would be advantageous for modulated carrier wavesignal(s) to have a substantially constant envelope in order to utilizenon-linear amplification systems in amplifier 120. Those of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that the amplifier may comprise anycomponents or circuitry capable of amplifying an electromagnetic wave,such as one or more power amplifiers or transistor segments forming anSA, etc.

Another characteristic of the signals representing input wave 101, suchas the magnitude of an signal (|I|) and a Q signal (|Q|), may be passedto amplifier 120 to control the gain or amplification of the modulatedcarrier wave signal(s). Examples ways to accomplish this are describedin more detail below. Amplifier 120 may thus be used to drive antenna125 through load line 121 with an output signal 102 that is an amplifiedversion of input wave 101 modulated onto a carrier wave.

A further embodiment is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, basebandprocessor 115 may include a controller 210 (e.g., an XY constellationgenerator) that may receive an input wave and generate two or moresignals representing the input wave, such as I and Q data signals.Controller 210 is not limited, but may comprise a digital signalprocessor in this embodiment, having an analog to digital converter thatmay digitize the wave into rectangular coordinates of I and Q datasignals.

These I, Q characteristics of the original input wave may be modulatedinto digital pulses comprising an N bit digital word quantized into bitsB1 to Bn, with a Most Significant Bit (“MSB”) to Least Significant Bit(“LSB”). The digital word may be of varying lengths in variousembodiments. In general, the longer the word the greater the accuracy ofreproduction of the input wave by the system (i.e, its resolution). Ofcourse, in other embodiments, a differently composed digital word or ananalog signal may be used.

The signals representing the input wave may then be passed from basebandprocessor 115 to a signal processor 118. Signal processor 118 mayinclude, for example, filters 212 and 214 for filtering out unwantedfrequency components to perform shaping of the signal pulses. In oneembodiment, filters 212, 214 may use polyphase filter banks that have aconfigurable number of taps and programmable filter coefficients tosupport different digital modulation schemes, although not limitedthereto.

For example, filter 212 may comprise a low-pass filter, such as a finiteimpulse response (FIR) or an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter. Inanother embodiment, filter 212 may comprise a low-pass filter bank,which is comprised of a series of filters F₀ to F_(n-1). The impulseresponses of filters F₀ to F_(n-1) may be at h₀(t) to h_(n-1)(t)respectively. Alternatively, one impulse response h(t) may be determinedbased upon the output to be produced at amplifier 120 that is applied toeach of the signal bits. The filter taps may be located at t=nTs, wheren may be each of the N bits of the signal representing the I signal andTs is the sampling period.

Filter 214 may be similarly comprised for the Q signal, but may have itstaps offset or delayed by some amount, such as one half the samplingperiod (Ts/2) for reasons which will become clear below. Of course,those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the invention isclearly not limited thereto. The operation of filters 212 and 214 may betimed using clock 222. Clock 222 may be operating at a frequency that isa multiple of the offset or delay between the filters for each signalrepresenting the input wave. Thus, if the delay is Ts/2, clock 222 maybe operating at a clock speed of 2fs, where fs is the samplingfrequency.

The signals representing the input wave may then be passed through oneor more upsampling components (212 and 214) to pad each signal with aseries of bits (e.g., “0's, although not limited thereto) to increasethe number of bits based upon the speed of clock 222. Thus, in theabove-described example, one additional bit may be placed between eachsampled bit. In other words, a sample containing eight bits, such as01101110 might now have sixteen bits: 0010100010101000 representing thatsample.

The signals representing the input wave may then be passed through adigital correction system 216 to reduce nonlinearities, such as bowingdue to AM/PM distortion, in the resulting signal outputted fromamplifier 120. Of course, those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that one or more correction circuits may be used.

Digital correction system 216 may comprise, for example, one or moredigital signal processors as part of signal processor 118 (that may ormay not be used as part of baseband processor 115 also) that contains analgorithm that uses a look-up table (LUT) containing values based upon alinear approximation of the output from amplifier 120 to correct thesignals representing the input wave (e.g., I and Q component signals) tohelp maintain the linearity of the output signal from power amplifier120.

In one embodiment, for example, the 2N-bit values of I and Q datasignals may be translated into new 2N-bit values that will linearize theoutput from amplifier 120 closer to its desired values. In such asystem, a correction table may comprise 2^(2N-1) (2^(2N)+1) entries,since values for each of the I and Q data signals would comprise 4N bitsin this embodiment. However, those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the actual number of entries may be reduced depending onthe characteristics of amplifier 120. The better the characteristics ofamplifier 120, the less phase distortion per state, and the more entriesthat may be segmented into a smaller number of entries.

One way of building the look-up table of digital correction system 216,for example, may be by finding another I, Q output state for each I, Qinput state (s₁, s_(Q)) for which the output voltagev=v_(real)+jv_(imag) minimizes the Euclidean distance|(s₁+jS_(Q))−α(v_(real)+jv_(imag))|², where α is an arbitrary constantthat may be chosen to optimize the final correction performance.

Digital correction system 216 may be used to make fine phase andamplitude corrections to the carrier wave signal via phase-locked loop(PLL) 226 and gain pre-stage 230 of carrier wave source 110. Correctionsignals may be computed by digital correction system 216, for example,based upon I and Q signals that it receives, and passed to PLL 226 andgain pre-stage 230. In this embodiment, small phase and amplitudecorrections may be made to the reference source (f_(ref)) from anoscillator 246 for the carrier wave (f_(carrier)) in PLL 226 and to gainpre-stage 230, as shown in FIG. 2. In the example shown in FIG. 2, θ_(c)is the determined correct phase of the signal, θ_(ic) is the incorrectmeasured phase and the difference θ_(c)−θ_(ic) is the amount of thecorrection that may be applied to PLL 226. Similarly, in this example,r_(c) is the correct magnitude for the signal, r_(ic) is the incorrectmeasured magnitude and the ration r_(c)/r_(ic) is the correction amountthat may be applied to the carrier wave at gain pre-stage 230.

Correcting the states of both the I and Q data signals has significantbenefits, including a greater degree of control as compared with othermodulation systems, such as polar based phase modulation schemes.Moreover, in the described embodiment, the output I and Q signals may belinearized as close as possible to the desired output values, and onlysmall amplitude and phase corrections need to be made to the carriersignal. In contrast, in polar based modulation, for example, digitalbaseband correction is typically one-dimensional, being applied to theamplitude aspect of the input wave, and all of the phase correction mustbe done in the PLL of a phase modulator. This results in a greatersensitivity of polar based systems to phase error, particularly athigher sampling rates.

The sign bit portion of each I and Q signal sample may be passed to amixer 232 in modulator 114, where it may be modulated onto a carrierwave produced by oscillator 246 and PLL 226 in carrier wave source 10.Carrier wave oscillator 246 may be any source of electromagnetic wavesthat is capable of producing a signal wave, such as a voltage-controlledoscillator (VCO). In another embodiment this signal source may be aTCXO.

Because the Q data signal is in quadrature with the I data signal, thecarrier wave may be phase shifted by ninety degrees using phase shifter234 and clock 222. The carrier wave and the phase shifted carrier wavemay then be passed to multiplexor 238, which combines the signals into asingle signal for mixing with the sign portion of the I and Q signals inmixer 232. The phase of the carrier wave may be controlled, for example,through digital signal processing that uses the sign bit of the I or Qsignal (sb=0, 1) and the clock (c=0, 1) so that the phase of the carrierwave may be 00 at 0, 01 at 90, 10 at 180, and 11 and 270, for example.The carrier wave and phase shifted carrier wave signals may be combinedinto a signal that corresponds to the bit rate of the upsampled signalsthat represent the input wave. The modulated wave outputted from mixer232 may have a substantially constant envelope, i.e., it has noamplitude variations, yet it has characteristics of the original inputwave.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that modulator 114 isnot limited to the embodiment disclosed herein, but may comprise anycircuitry and/or components capable of producing one or more modulatedcarrier wave signals based upon the inputting of a carrier wave and anaspects of two or more signals that represent the input wave. Forexample, if a carrier wave of frequency ω_(c) is inputted to modulator114, along with the sign (±) of an I and a Q signal representing theinput wave, then modulator 114 may output one or more signals, such as+cos(ω_(c)), −cos(ω_(c)), +sin(ω_(c)), and −sin(ω_(c)). This may beaccomplished in the above-described manner or any other.

In one embodiment, a half Ts-Hold sample and hold mechanism may be usedto generate an output signal from amplifier 120. In this example,amplifier 120 may be a digital segmented amplifier comprising aplurality of amplifying segments 240. In one embodiment, there are an Nnumber of segments for the N bits of the signals that represent theinput wave (e.g., the I and Q data signals). Each of the segments mayreceive a signal from a control component if the control component ison, and so each segment is regulated according to that component. Insome embodiments the regulation may be of the bias current to thesegments, as is described further below, and so the control componentmay be referred to as a bias control circuit, and a number of them as abias network. In some embodiments, it may be desired to statically ordynamically allocate one or more control circuits to one or moresegments.

An embodiment of the amplifying segments of amplifier 120 are furtherillustrated in FIGS. 3(a)-(b). As shown in FIG. 3(a), the amplifier mayinclude one or more amplifying segments 310, 312, 314, and 316. Thesemay comprise, for example, power amplifiers, although not limitedthereto. The modulated carrier wave(s) from modulator 114 (FIG. 2) maybe inputted into each segment. The magnitude control signal also may beinputted into each of the segments, as further described below. Each ofthe power amplifying segments may or may not produce an output dependingon the control signal received by it.

The output of each power amplifying segment may then be combined incombining circuit 320, creating an output signal to drive the load.Combining circuit 320 is not particularly limited, and may comprise anymechanism for combining the output from each power amplifier, such as byusing power transformers, quarter-wave transmission lines, discrete LCcomponents (e.g., Pi-networks), and the like.

Another embodiment is shown in FIG. 3(b). As shown in FIG. 3(b), theamplifier may also contain segmented transistor 330, which may serve aspotential current sources. Each amplifying segment may or may not act asa current source, because it is regulated via the appropriate controlcomponent (332, 334, 336, and 338), which may be a current source or anyother component capable of controlling the flow of current to transistor330, and activation of a segment is dependant upon the control signaland concomitant regulation of the appropriate control component.

The transistor and its segments may be an HBT transistor. Othertransistors may be used as well, such as FET, etc., as well as othercurrent or wave characteristic sources. Other components may beinterposed as well, e.g., a driver before transistor 330, a VGA toreduce the drive current to the transistor segments, etc.

In the various embodiments, each of the amplifying segments maycontribute an output to the output signal. The amplifying segments maybe switched on and off by bits of the digital word output from thecontrol signal, which contains the time multiplexed magnitude data forthe I and Q signals and so alternately regulated thereby. For example,if a bit representing the I (or Q) magnitude data is “1” or “on,” thecorresponding control component may be switched on, and so an output forthe I (or Q) portion of the modulated carrier wave from that segment iscontributed to the load. As had been noted above, the length of thedigital word may vary, and so the number of bits and control segmentsmay vary accordingly in various embodiments. Additionally, embodimentsmay comprise a single bit length word.

In one embodiment, each of the amplifying segments may vary in size. Forexample, if the overall gain of the amplifier is to be “A”, one segmentmay be twice the size of the next segment, which in turn may be twicethe size of the next segment, and so on until reaching the finalsegment. The largest segment of each section may be controlled by theMSB for the magnitude of the I (or Q) signal, the next bit to the nextlargest segment, etc., until the LSB, which is sent to the smallestsegment. Of course, as had been noted above, other embodiments may havea different pattern of matching signal to segment. In other embodiments,other wave characteristics may be fed to another source of wavecharacteristics and so regulate that source.

Thus, a portion of the signal that represents the input wave, such asthe magnitude portion of an I and Q signal, may be used to alternatelyactuate individual amplifying segments within amplifier 120 to amplifythe modulated carrier signal in relation to the original input wave.This produces a combined output from amplifier 120 that represents anamplified carrier wave carrying the intelligence contained within theinput wave.

An optional band pass filter 124 may also be included on load line 121between amplifier 120 and antenna 125. In the embodiment describedherein, the signals that represent the input wave when combined (e.g.,the I and Q signals) may be processed in an alternating serial fashionin amplifier 120 and combined at the output, instead of being processedin parallel with each other. Bandpass filter 124 may be included tofilter unwanted noise and frequency components from the output signal.

It should be noted that transmitter embodiments, as well as receiver andtransceiver embodiments, may proceed with various types of antennas,both active and passive. Additionally, it should be noted that anantenna may not be required in some embodiments, e.g. in wiredtransmitter, receiver, and/or transceiver embodiments.

In the especially preferred embodiments, a transmitter, receiver, andtransceiver of the invention may be specialized for particular inputwaves, carrier waves and output signals, e.g. various types of cellphones, such as CDMA, CDMA2000, W-CDMA, GSM, TDMA, as well as variousother types of devices, both wired and wireless, e.g. Bluetooth,802.11a, -b, -g, GPS, radar, 1xRTT, radios, GPRS, computers and computercommunication devices, handheld devices, etc. Among the modulationschemes supported by the invention are: GMSK, which is used in GSM;GFSK, which is used in DECT & Bluetooth; 8-PSK, which is used in EDGE,OQPSK & HPSK, which are used in IS-2000; p/4 DQPSK, which is used inTDMA; and OFDM, which is used in 802.11.

Various embodiments may utilize both analog and digital componentsinsofar as these embodiments manipulate waves and signals requiringboth. For example, cell phone embodiments may utilize both analog anddigital components. Various types of system architectures may beutilized for constructing the embodiments. For example, an ASICcomposition may be used in realizing the various architectures. CMOSand/or BiCMOS fabrication techniques may be used as well as acombination of both, e.g. a BiCMOS Phase modulator area combined with aCMOS baseband area. Generally, in the some embodiments, transistor speedis a concern, and BiCMOS provides faster speed. Additionally, BiCMOSprovides less current drain than an all CMOS configuration.

The invention improves over the systems of the prior art. ConventionalI/Q modulators have been used with linear modulation schemes andamplifiers. Not using such linear modulation eliminates the problem ofI/Q imbalance and distortion that occurs when these systems are used.Using analog modulation of Cartesian I, Q data in the system of theinvention also has advantages over other modulation schemes, such as,for example, polar based modulation. The invention eliminates the needfor a polar conversion stage and the difficulties associated with thedesign of a phase modulator module that would be required forinterfacing the phase signal to an ASA. In addition, the bandwidth andquantization requirements for the I and Q signals are much smaller thanthose for the amplitude and phase signals used in polar basedmodulation.

Power control may be accomplished by varying the input power levels tothe power amplifier via a voltage-controlled attenuator, along with thebase bias voltages on the buffer and I, Q modulator stages. Themodulation function is performed at the final stage in the transmitline-up. This allows for a very efficient solution for the overalltransmitter as the modulated RF carrier signal applied to all gainblocks of the transmitter will be constant envelope.

Having thus described a few particular embodiments of the invention,various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occurto those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications andimprovements as are made obvious by this disclosure are intended to bepart of this description though not expressly stated herein, and areintended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, various filtering components may be added as desired forfiltering or processing signals propagating through the system. Variouscomponents may be combined or separated, or additional components may beadded (such as isolating or gain controlling amplifiers). Accordingly,the foregoing description is by way of example only, and not limiting.The invention is limited only as defined in the following claims andequivalents thereto.

1. A method for electromagnetic processing of an input wave comprisingthe steps of: receiving a modified signal derived from two or moresignals that represent said input wave when combined; alternatelyregulating said modified signal using a digital signal containing atleast one characteristic of said two or more signals; and phase shiftinga carrier wave to generate a phase shifted carrier wave; combining saidcarrier wave with said phase shifted carrier wave to generate a combinedcarrier signal; and mixing a characteristic of said two or more signalsthat represent said input wave with said combined carrier signal togenerate said modified signal.
 2. A method as in claim 1, wherein saidtwo or more signals are in quadrature with each other.
 3. A method as inclaim 1, wherein said characteristic used to regulate said modifiedsignal is magnitude.
 4. A method as in claim 1, further comprising thestep of generating an output signal from said regulation of saidmodified signal.
 5. A method as in claim 1, wherein said step ofregulating said modified signal is performed using a plurality ofsegments.
 6. A method as in claim 5, wherein one or more of saidsegments is independently controlled as a power amplifier by a portionof said two or more signals that represent said input wave to contributepower to an output signal.
 7. A method as in claim 6, further comprisingthe step of generating an output signal by combining power outputtedfrom one or more of said segments.
 8. A method as in claim 7, whereinsaid step of generating an output signal by combining power isaccomplished using one or more selected from the group consisting ofpower transformers, quarter-wave transmission lines, discrete LCcomponents, and a Pi-networks.
 9. A method as in claim 5, wherein one ormore of said segments is independently controlled as a current source bysaid portion of said two or more signals that represent said input waveto contribute current to an output signal.
 10. A method as in claim 1,wherein said received modified signal is derived from a signcharacteristic of at least one of said two or more signals thatrepresent said input wave when combined.
 11. A method as in claim 1,wherein said modified signal is a carrier wave modulated by acharacteristic of at least one of said two or more signals thatrepresent said input wave when combined.
 12. A method as in claim 1,wherein said combined carrier signal is a time multiplexed signal.
 13. Amethod as in claim 1, wherein said combined carrier wave is generatedusing a bit representing a sign characteristic of said two or moresignals that represent said input wave when combined and a bit from aclock representing a clock level.
 14. A method as in claim 13, furthercomprising the step of upsampling said two or more signals thatrepresent said input signal when combined using said clock.
 15. A methodas in claim 14, wherein said step of upsampling comprises padding saidtwo or more signals that represent said input signal when combined with0's.
 16. A method as in claim 1, wherein said carrier wave and saidphase shifted carrier wave have a relative phase difference of 90°. 17.A method as in claim 1, further comprising the step of processing saidtwo or more signals that represent said input wave when combined by oneor more selected from the group consisting of performing correction ofan amplitude characteristic of a carrier wave used in said derivation ofsaid modified signal, correction of a phase characteristic of a carrierwave used in said derivation of said modified signal, and filtering ofone or more of said two or more signals that represent said input wavewhen combined.
 18. A method as in claim 1, further comprising the stepof filtering an output produced by alternately regulating said modifiedsignal.
 19. A method as in claim 1, wherein said electromagneticprocessing of said input wave comprises RF modulation.
 20. A method fortransmitting an input wave comprising the steps of: generating two ormore signals that represent said input wave when combined; combining acarrier wave and a phase shifted carrier wave to produce a combinedcarrier signal; modulating said combined carrier signal with at leastone characteristic of at least one of said two or more digital signalsto generate a modulated signal; inputting said modulated signal into anamplifier having at least one amplifying segment; alternatelycontrolling said at least one amplifying segment with a digital controlsignal containing another characteristic of said two or more signalsthat represent said input wave when combined to generate at least onesegment output; and transmitting an output signal based upon said atleast one segment output.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein said twoor more signals comprise an in-phase and a quadrature signal.
 22. Themethod of claim 20, wherein said characteristic used to generate saiddigital control signals is magnitude.
 23. The method of claim 20,wherein said characteristic used to modulate said combined carriersignal is sign.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein said carrier wave isan RF signal.
 25. The method of claim 21, wherein said combined carriersignal is produced by time multiplexing said carrier wave and said phaseshifted carrier wave.
 26. The method of claim 21, further comprising thestep of upsampling said two or more signals that represent said inputwave when combined.
 27. An apparatus for electromagnetic processing ofan input wave comprising: a source of a carrier wave; a phase shifterfor phase shifting said carrier wave to generate a phase shifted carrierwave; a combining circuit for combining said carrier wave and said phaseshifted carrier wave to generate a combined carrier signal; an amplifierhaving at least one amplifying segment for receiving a modified signalderived from two or more signals that represent said input wave whencombined; a control circuit for alternately regulating said modifiedsignal across said at least one amplifying segment using a digitalsignal containing a characteristic of one of said two or more signals;and a mixer for mixing a characteristic of said two or more signals thatrepresent said input wave when combined with said combined carriersignal to generate said modulated signal.
 28. An apparatus as in claim27, wherein said two or more signals are in quadrature with each other.29. An apparatus as in claim 27, wherein said characteristic used toregulate said modified signal is magnitude.
 30. An apparatus as in claim27, wherein one or more of said segments comprises a power amplifier.31. An apparatus as in claim 30, further comprising a combining circuitfor combining an output from one or more of said segments, wherein saidcombining circuit comprises one or more selected from the groupconsisting of power transformers, quarter-wave transmission lines,discrete LC components, and a Pi-networks.
 32. An apparatus as in claim27, wherein one or more of said segments is a current source thatcontributes current to an output signal.
 33. An apparatus as in claim 27wherein said combiner circuit comprises a time multiplexor thatgenerates said combined carrier signal as a time multiplexed signalusing a bit representing a sign characteristic of said two or moresignals that represent said input wave when combined and a bit from aclock representing a clock level.
 34. An apparatus as in claim 33,further comprising an upsampler for upsampling said two or more signalsthat represent said input signal when combined using said clock.
 35. Anapparatus as in claim 34, wherein said upsampler is programmed to padsaid two or more signals that represent said input signal when combinedwith 0's.
 36. An apparatus as in claim 27, wherein said carrier wave isan RF signal.
 37. An apparatus as in claim 27, wherein said carrier waveand said phase shifted carrier wave have a relative phase difference of90°.
 38. An apparatus as in claim 37, further comprising a signalprocessor programmed to do one or more selected from the groupconsisting of performing correction of an amplitude characteristic of acarrier wave used in said derivation of said modified signal, correctionof a phase characteristic of a carrier wave used in said derivation ofsaid modified signal, and filtering of one or more of said two or moresignals that represent said input wave when combined.
 39. An apparatusas in claim 27, further comprising a band pass filter for filtering anoutput produced by alternately regulating said modified signal.
 40. Anapparatus for transmitting an input wave comprising: a signal generatorfor generating two or more signals that represent said input wave whencombined; a signal modulator for combining a carrier wave with a phaseshifted carrier wave to generate a combined carrier signal and formodulating said combined carrier signal with a characteristic of saidtwo or more signals to generate a modulated signal; an amplifier havingat least one amplifying segment for receiving said modulated signal; acontroller for alternately controlling said at least one amplifyingsegment with a digital signal containing a characteristic of said two ormore signals; and an output circuit for transmitting an output signalbased upon said at least one output segment.
 41. The apparatus of claim40, wherein said two or more signals comprise an in-phase and aquadrature signal.
 42. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein saidcharacteristic used to generate said control signal is magnitude. 43.The apparatus of claim 40, wherein said characteristic used to modulatesaid carrier wave is sign.
 44. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein saidcarrier wave is an RF signal.
 45. The apparatus of claim 40, whereinsaid segment is a power amplifier.
 46. The apparatus of claim 40,wherein said segment is a current source.
 47. The apparatus of claim 40,wherein said signal modulator includes a time multiplexor for generatingsaid combined carrier signal by time multiplexing said carrier wave andsaid phase shifted carrier wave.
 48. The apparatus of claim 40, furthercomprising an upsampler for upsampling said two or more signals thatrepresent said input wave when combined.